Review: Thrice - "The Alchemy Index Vol. III & IV"
Steve Hardy
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: @Press
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Sounds Like:
Air: Acoustic 10 Years singing Chris Carrabba lyrics
Earth: If Matchbox Twenty sang blues
Tracks to Download:
"Moving Mountains," "Deadalus"
Philip Glass was a minimalist; Thrice just never does anything with "The Alchemy Index Vol. III & IV." All 12 tracks are very different, spanning new age to spirituals, but that only lends to the feeling that the album is an exercise in mediocrity. The band is truly inventive in finding various ways to lose a listener's attention. One common thread is a complete dearth of stirring moments. If you like melodies reminiscent of Ben Stein in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," by all means, pick up this new all-acoustic CD. Otherwise, you can't get away from most of the tracks quickly enough.
This collection is meant to be partnered with last year's installment to form a concept album exploring the most basic natural elements. Volumes III and IV explore Air and Earth, respectively. Apparently, Air is not a goldmine for musical inspirational, as the band plays as vapidly as, well, air. Luckily, the contributions from the Earth half of the album are a bit meatier, with hints of hints of blues and even occasional drums.
The biggest travesty is that the band does not merely play repetitive figures; guitarist Teppei Teranishi does entire songs on one chord. Don't believe me? Listen to "A Song for Milly Michaelson." There are four notes. I counted. I don't know what poor Milly did to deserve such a tribute, but I feel for her. Of the six Air tracks, only "Daedalus" and "The Sky is Falling" convinced me that I wasn't listening to a really bad lullaby, though the latter loses points for going out of its way to add whiny saxophone.
On "As the Crow Flies," Dustin Kensrue keeps up the obnoxious monotone whisper-singing with about as much lyrical precision as a second grader. The song mostly features him singing "Fly over me" ad nauseum. Meanwhile, "Silver Wings" goes in a differently annoying direction, channeling Enya with what sounds like a drum machine and with creepy, new age-y falsetto vocal chanting.
Luckily, the last six tracks (the Earth half of the album) pick up the pace a bit. "Moving Mountains" is a respectable camp-fire ditty, and piano-heavy "Digging My Own Grave" could fit right in at a smoky bar after hours, though I can't defend the clarinet.
Nevertheless, Earth also falls victim to boring, pointless creepiness. It sounds fantastic following the Air tracks, but even all the bizarre Jesus references can't salvage this tanker of an album. Thrice spends about an hour and a half musing on fire, water, air and earth, but they never realize an element of style.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
Kypher
posted 4/24/08 @ 10:40 PM CST
You obviously don't know a thing about music. We'll start here:
Fire: Not to mention the fact that the lyrics are absolutely genius, the music accompanying it finds a way to somehow surpass it. (Continued…)
BB
posted 4/28/08 @ 12:42 PM CST
It is common knowledge that music critics are never right. I had no idea that one could get this far off the mark, however. I laughed out loud when I read this. (Continued…)
Jon
posted 4/29/08 @ 2:58 PM CST
This is probably the worst assessment of an album I've ever read in my life. The writer obviously has no idea what style is, and most definitely prefers to listen to artists that create the mainstream sound that radio-fanatics are used to listening to. (Continued…)
Redcrosse
posted 4/30/08 @ 2:19 AM CST
While perhaps Kypher is a bit overarching and exaggerated in his praise (might they be just your favorite songs and not the best songs ever written?), he does have a point in that you, Mr. (Continued…)
Sebas
posted 5/15/08 @ 6:34 PM CST
I'm very sorry that you're so narrow minded, and I hardly doubt that you're a journalist, otherwise it wouldn't be so notorious that you lack objectivity and information in your "critic". (Continued…)
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